Orioles’ executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed today what everyone has been speculating for weeks: The Orioles need starting pitching badly, but there just isn’t much available right now as the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.
“This is a really thin market,” Duquette said. “There’s a lot of teams chasing a few pitchers. It’s about as thin as I’ve ever seen the market. But we’re going to see what we can do.”
The Orioles are using swingman Vance Worley and rookie Dylan Bundy in the back-end of their rotation at this point, and Duquette said his priority is making that unit stronger for the stretch run.
“We’re gonna try to add to our rotation,” he said. “We need some more consistency from the guys we have here and we are going to try to add to it via the trade route.”
Duquette was asked whether he could look to strengthen the bullpen to shorten games considering the weak rotation possibilities.
“Darren O’Day is doing a rehab tonight (at Double-A Bowie) and having him come back will give us a shot in the arm. We have a strong bullpen,” Duquette said. “We have Brad Brach and (Zach) Britton, (they) are amongst the two best in the league. So those guys are great. (Mychal) Givens is doing good work and I’ve been impressed by what Donnie Hart’s done since he’s been up. So I mean our bullpen is not really the issue. It’s really the consistency of our starting pitching. And hopefully we can address that.”
The question, ultimately, will be whether other organizations like the Orioles’ available minor league prospects. The system has been ranked toward the bottom of the major leagues recently, but Duquette seemingly every year turns minor leaguers into major leaguers for the stretch run. The effectiveness of those big-league additions have been varied.
Duquette’s team may also be looking for some outfield help.
Joey Rickard was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a right thumb ligament injury. Specifics weren’t released by game time, but because ligaments were mentioned, it sounds like it could require a lengthier stay. He’ll join fellow outfielder Hyun Soo Kim (hamstring), who is already on the DL. Dariel Alvarez was called up from Triple-A Norfolk to take Rickard’s place, but is viewed more as a reserve outfielder. Duquette didn’t dismiss looking for an outfielder in a trade, but, again, said the starting rotation is his focus.
“We could take a look at that,” Duquette said. “But our real need is on the mound.”
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Duh! We all knew this going into the season Duquette! The fans knew it more than anyone, but the media to the brass tried to sell us wet matches and now the chickens are roosting. It's pathetic. The pitching will cause this team to miss the playoffs. Because when you're not hitting home runs all over the yard, you get exposed and they are not good on the road and this second half is brutal road games. That's why it's so disappointing to be a fan because you know they are ultimately setting you up for colossal disappointment. Even if they squeak into the p!ayoffs, they are not going anywhere. Hopefully I'm wrong but I seriously doubt it based on the fact that we have an OWNER who is NOT all in(his lack of top dollar spending on the most critical position in the game in a league with no salary cap) , and we have seen this same movie before. The fans deserve better Mr Angelos. I know you couldn't care less as long as you're pockets are lining up but it's been too long. Cruz gone, Trumbo will be gone , Machado will be gone,etc...And all we will hear from the media sycophants is that hey we can't afford them. Balogny!! You're OWNER does not want to afford them because he is not willing to do what it takes to realistically win a championship.
I've gotta be honest. These are some tired complaints. O's had top 10 payroll to start season. They spent $161 million to retain ONE of their players last winter and retained 3 pending FAS. Spending huge on top-tier free agent pitching is mostly a disaster long term. If you want to crush the organization for not drafting/developing a cadre of big-league starting pitching, I'm all for it. But not spending for a title (they outspent reigning champ KC, btw) is a yawn.
I agree Dan. Big spending in the starting pitching rarely pays off. For whatever reason, poor drafting, poor development or just plan bad luck, the Orioles can't seem to fill the void between Tillman at the top of the rotation and Gallardo towards the bottom. Gausman, while he has pitched OK at times, has overall been a real disappointment, and Wright and Wilson are just not major league ready. Ulbaldo is a disaster. I said at the beginning of the season that the Orioles success in the starting rotation were dependent upon a lot of "ifs" falling in there favor. The fact that so many of those "ifs" have gone poorly, and they are still in 1st place, is nothing short of miraculous. IMHO.
I agree with Dan. They've spent plenty. I'd hate to see them break the bank now with Machado & Wieters coming due. Most likely, we'll lose Wieters, but somehow, someway, they've got to keep Machado. The price of starting pitching is way too high. Case in point Ubaldo.